The PGA TOUR makes another stop in Florida at another difficult course this week for the Valspar Championship at the Copperhead Course at the Innisibrook Resort. After navigating the Bear Trap, Bay Hill, and TPC Sawgrass the last few weeks, the pros will tangle with “The Snake Pit,” which usually turns out to be one of the most difficult three-hole stretches in the regular rotation on the PGA TOUR. A strong field is lined up to take on Copperhead this week, so building lineups for cash games is a lot of fun, even though there is plenty of potential for players to crash and burn. My top three picks for cash games this week are Shane Lowry ($9,400), Taylor Moore ($8,600), and Joel Dahmen ($7,000).
Earlier on Wednesday, I broke down my top three pivot plays for tournament lineups in a companion piece to this post. The picks in both posts have upside and characteristics that I like for this week’s event. The pivot plays for tournaments are more aggressive, while these three plays are safer options. These picks will also likely have much higher ownerships, but still made solid plays where that is less of a factor. Think of cash game picks as playing a par 5 as it was designed — looking for a solid birdie; while the tournament plays are more aggressive picks that try to go for the green in two. There is potentially more reward with pivot plays, but also more risk.
The picks I highlight here each week are designed for “cash game” contests, which are contests on DraftKings that pay out to about the top half of entries. Typically, they are in the 50/50s & Double Ups or Head-to-Head sections of the DraftKings lobby. In this style of contest, it’s important to minimize risk and try to focus more on the floor of your entry rather than the ceiling. Typically, cash lineups will be more balanced in their spending. In cash games, finding low-ownership plays doesn’t matter as much since you’re just trying to finish in the top half of contests rather than finish at the very top of a GPP.
With those ground rules in place, let’s dive deeper into my top three cash game plays for this week at the Valspar Championship.
Shane Lowry ($9,400)
Lowry is affordable enough to lead a balanced roster build this week, and he has been very solid this season, especially in Florida. He has a high ceiling to go with his high floor and looked sharp last Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, where he finished with a closing 67 to skyrocket up to T20 on the leaderboard.
Lowry missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in his first start of the PGA TOUR season, but since then he’s been on an impressive heater. He finished solo-second at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in a Signature Event and added a T39 at The Genesis Invitational despite not have a great track record at Torrey Pines.
In Florida, he finished T11 at the Cognizant, solo seventh at the Arnold Palmer, and capped his three-week run with last week’s T20. He finished fourth in the field last week in Strokes Gained: Approach; a key metric this week at the Valspar. If his putter cooperates just a little bit, he could be near the top of the leaderboard again this week.
On this course, Lowry has made the cut in both his appearances, finishing T49 in 2018 and T12 in 2022.
His strong form and good course fit make him a great option for cash games this week, and getting him at such an affordable salary is too good a chance to pass up.
Taylor Moore ($8,600)
Moore’s one PGA TOUR career victory came at this event two years ago, and he finished T12 last year in his title defense. He should continue to be a fixture on the weekend at the Valspar this year, especially since he comes in with very strong recent form.
Even though his putter hasn’t done him any favors, he ranks 17th in the field in Total Strokes Gained over the last 30 rounds and 16th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. His short game has been one of his strengths, shown by his top-10 ranking in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green during that span as well.
Last week, Moore was steady with a T33 at THE PLAYERS, making the cut in his seventh straight event since missing the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He has two top-10 finishes during that span at The American Express and the WM Phoenix Open.
Like Lowry, his current form and course history make him a solid play with both a high floor and a high ceiling, which is why I have him as one of my top cash plays at the Valspar.
Joel Dahmen ($7,000)
Dahmen hasn’t had the success of Moore or Lowry, but he has gone four-for-four in making the cut in his career at Copperhead. Getting him for only $7,000 is a little surprising and makes sense if you want to include multiple big salaries in your cash builds.
Two weeks ago, Dahmen opted out of the Puerto Rico Open, but he played at THE PLAYERS last week, finishing T54. That solid finish continued a strong run of results for Dahmen, including two top-10 finishes at the Mexico Open and the Farmers Insurance Open.
Over his last 16 rounds, Dahmen ranks in the top 10 in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and in Strokes Gained: Approach. Like Moore and Lowry, a cold putter has kept him from finishing higher, but his shot-making form has been excellent.
If he can continue that at Copperhead, he should make the weekend for the fifth straight trip, and that would most likely be enough to make him worth a play in cash games at only $7,000. He also has a high ceiling that he flashed with those two top-10 finishes earlier this season.
Break out the bucket hat this week and try to tame Copperhead with Dahmen on your roster!
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR GIANT $25 Double Up [Single Entry]
